How Do Toddlers Learn

Tips for Teaching Toddlers

Read with them EVERY DAY.

Let your kids see you read by yourself.

Let your child explore. When starting a new toy, game, project or activity, give them time to explore all the pieces, within your guidance andbefore getting to work. Read about Heuristic Play here and here.

Talk to them. Have real conversations--no matter how mundane--so they understand how sentences and questions are formed. Language development comes from imitation.

Set up a designated learning space. Make allowances for play, making messes and spreading out.

Understand their attention span for any activity may only be 5 minutes. However, having scheduled learning time and organized activities helps expand their attention span, which will help them when they start kindergarten.

What Your Child Needs To Know Before Starting School

Academic Skills:

Their name. What it looks like, what it sounds like, how to write it and how to answer to it. I put this first for a reason. It’s super important and sooo many kids start school without this knowledge.

The Alphabet. Including L-M-N-O-P

Numbers to 10. In kindergarten they will learn to count to 100, so getting started on that early will put them ahead of the curve.

Book Awareness. How to hold it, how to turn the pages, how to treat a book. Where the story (words) are. Where the sentences begins and ends.

Colors. The more colors they know the better.

Bonus points:

Reading the eight basic color words.

Letters have sounds. Most letters have multiple sounds, and vowels are the hardest, so before kindergarten make sure they know at least half the consonant sounds. Easiest ones to learn: M, P, S, T, B, R, Z, A. Hardest to learn: W/Y/U, F/V, E, I.

Sitting. This is hard for so many little ones. They have to sit for stories, for seat work and for other activities. And they have to sit for lunch. The WHOLE time! That’s 20 to 30 minutes. Children who are not made to sit while they eat at home struggle with this the most.

Sharing. Snatching, grabbing, hoarding--all things that will cause problems and take time away from learning. You don’t want your kid to be a push over, but teaching your child the phrases “You can have it when I’m done” and "Can we play with it together" will save everyone a lot of time and frustration.

Tying shoes. This one takes time, but they should at least know it by 1st grade. Think about it: 1 teacher, 40+ feet. That’s a lot of shoe tying for someone who’s supposed to be teaching your child to read. Plus, think about all the gross things shoelaces get dragged through. Don’t make your child’s teacher touch those.

Buckling buckles, zipping zips, fastening belts, etc. Basically getting themselves dressed and keeping themselves that way. Even at 5 and 6 they get embarrassed when they have to ask their etcher for help. School with uniforms also require them to tuck in their shirts. These aren’t natural skills. They are all things that have to be taught, modeled and retaught.